Hello! My name is Ian Tecson and I am a 3rd year BBA Accounting student at Douglas College. I am currently the VP of Accounting for the Douglas Commerce and Business Association. I’m also involved as a Campus CPA Ambassador where I get to guide and answer students’ questions about the CPA designation. I am a very ‘outdoorsy’ person and love to spend my free time playing basketball, hiking, and snowboarding.

What interests you about becoming a CPA?

The CPA profession is widely known for its credibility and flexibility as a designation. Many CPAs are able to work in various industries like manufacturing, energy, banking, mining, and many more. I am interested in working with small businesses to make a positive impact and help them with their financial goals. I believe that becoming a CPA will allow me to become a credible consultant to various businesses.

What has been your greatest professional accomplishment so far?

I am currently working as an Accounting Assistant for a nutritional company. Being able to apply classroom lessons into ‘real world’ industry practice has been an eye-opener, but great experience nonetheless. This January 2019, I am very excited to start my co-op with an accounting firm to expand my knowledge and experience in public practice.

Are you involved with any school clubs? What experience did it provide you and what was your greatest achievement?

I am deeply involved as a VP of Accounting with the Douglas Commerce and Business Association (DCBA). The biggest lesson I learned with my role is how to communicate with different people and personalities. As VP, you are constantly talking to students, faculty, managers from firms, other accounting clubs, and your fellow executives. It also gave me the opportunity to become a leader and help students succeed with their career goals. Other experiences include leading events, budget forecasting, and coaching future leaders. The DCBA has achieved many great things from initiating a CPA Hub in our website, collaborating with other clubs to lead events, and expanding member involvement within the club.

How have your extracurricular involvements helped you? What opportunities did it provide?

The DCBA helped me expand my network and meet employers from various firms. It provided me with the opportunity to get to know firms which ultimately led to interviews and offers.

What are some tips you can share about the Public Practice/Industry Recruit process?

The best tip I can share is to network as much as you can! Get to know the firms and see what their culture and principles are about. If you want to learn more, I’ve written a reflection of my experience with the recruit process (read about it in a later post!)